Do you remember the time when, little made you happy? Do you remember the time when the simple things made you smile? Life can be wonderful if you let it be. Life can even be simple if you try. Whatever happened to those days? Whatever happened to those nights? Can you even remember the time that little things made you sad? When they made you cry? Is it just me? Or have you forgotten too? Do you feel lost, my Ashram? You're never lost so long as you know where to go. To ask why humans have to hurt one another is to ask why we shed tears, my dearest. As lost as you may be at this moment I know you can still find your way home, where I will always be waiting. Life can be beautiful if you let it. Tell me I'm not alone, my Ashram. Tell me we aren't alone in this world fighting agaisnt the wind my boy.

Adrian's mind recalled his grandmother's words on his birthday. Something she always quoted him. But he never understood it. His mind didn't comprehend the words echoing in the back of his mind as he stood there. His eyes narrowed behind the mask as he stared at the three targets. He waited patiently as he let his vision tunnel, the Devil's Teardrop in his hand. His arm snapped out in a wide arc toward the first target, the forest moving slowly around him. His blade passed through the target before reversing direction cutting through the target again, but higher. As the thing fell Adrian followed the second slash around, in a full circle, before cutting through the length of two pieces of the target. As they fell he grinned, looking down at the target. If he could master the Jinsoku Slashes then Iaijutsu was his.

Moving to the second target he took up the Iaijutsu stance. The two remaining targets were wet, at least when they were set up, to give the simulation of cutting through human bone. It made the targets strong and hard to cut through. The first one was a success but he had two more targets to cut through. The Devil's Teardrop arced around, cutting through the target. He brought his blade around a few inches past his target before reversing direction once more. But he could already feel that his body was moving slower than he had moments before with the first target. He cut into it as it fell, cutting a small chunk out of it. Reversing direction once more he brought the wide blade down frowning as he felt the blade bite into the target but not cut through it.

Grumbling to himself Adrian stood there, staring at the blade of the weapon he'd had longer than any other in his possession. He scanned the blade for any sign of breakage. He kept it very well cared for, one of the first lessons he'd learned. A weapon when not in use must be sheathed to avoid rusting. A rusted weapon was no good. It became unreliable. It stuck in the sheath, and broke easily.

Readying himself at the next target Adrian gripped the sword tightly in his hands. His eyes closed as he breathed slowly, readying his body for the next target. He could see the first target in his mind, and each slash that he'd made through it. He watched the blade pass through it horizontally, before reversing direction but a little higher. It passed through the middle of the falling wood. As it went around he lost sight of the target for an instant as he spun. As he came around, the blade passed through both halves of the two of them.

His eyes opened slowly as he let his target come into existence. He waited patiently until his body felt ready. He exhaled as he brought the Devil's Teardrop around in a swift wide slash. The black blade went wide to his side, his arm straining lightly before he turned with it. His body turned quickly, as if winding his arm up. His arm was pulled tight across his chest before it snapped out again, cutting through the falling piece of wood. As it came up he felt his muscles stretching before he brought it back down. But as it came down it bit into the falling straw but didn't cut through.

His blade followed the dense material material into the ground. The target had been specially designed to simulate bone. But if his blade refused to cut through it, it meant his blade had trouble with bone, for some reason. Freeing his blade he brought his cleaning cloth once more. He wiped the double edged blade of the weapon before he sighed lightly. He would have to sharpen it again after this training. But for now he would have to use it as is.

His sword twirled in his hand before he released the weapon into the air. As it spun going up he stepped forward, his left hand crossing his chest toward the weapon. As it came down he caught the handle and brought the weapon up in a swift diagonal slash across the next target. As it passed through he flipped the blade and reversed direction cutting through the target once more. As the weapon came down he shifted his grip once more before bringing the weapon around in a crescent arc cutting through the target once more.

Turning his back to the fallen targets he slid his weapon into the sheath stuck in his sash. If he could master the fighting styles he desired, he would be unbeatable. He could beat nearly all of the demons in the woods, and wouldn't bother with most of them. But when he reclaimed Goranova he would be unstopable. Even the most powerful demons would tremble in his wake. Not even his Goddess would be able to deny his strength. He was already a powerful and devoted servant. With Goranova none would dare cross her for fear of his retribution. But to them he was a mere human, though his sword was something to be feared.

Walking away from his position the masked male's brow furrowed behind the skull mask. His eyes shifted to the corners of his vision. His ear twitched lightly when he heard the tell all sounds of growling. Nobody ever said demons were subtle when it came to attacking their enemies. He knew without a shadow of a doubt it was the demon from the other day. He'd cut off it's hand but he'd never finished the job. His big brother had gotten in the way. His eyes closed for a moment as he held his breath, listening for the breathing. One, two, one, two, one, two, three? His eyes snapped open when he heard him moving toward him.

Turning he drew his blade, his sword arcing out in a wide slash. He grinned darkly as his sword caught under the spike of the Ogre's Tetsubo. His body slid back a bit before he was thrown off his feet. The agile swordsman hit the ground in a roll before leaping back behind a tree. But it wasn't there long. As the iron and spiked war club struck the tree, it tore it from the ground, knocking it over. As the tree went down, the swordsman lept forward, the Devil's Teardrop flashing out toward the Ogre's throat.

The laughing demon leaned back, the blade barely nicking his chin. As he stepped back he brought his war club back behind him before bringing it down toward the swordsman, seeking to crush him. He felt it hit something solid, but frowned as he stared down where the swordsman had a wooden sword raised up. Both weapons were crossed over the swordsman's head, stopping the attack from crushing him.

Adrian was forced to one knee, his body shaking from the force of the impact. It hurt, yes, but he'd felt a lot worse. He rose to his feet slowly before shifting his stance. The shift in stance, forced the tetsubo aside, before the wooden sword slammed down on the wrist of the demon. To the amazement of both fighters the demon's wrist bubbled up as if it were burned somehow.

Releasing the handle of the tetsubo the Ogre backed away quickly, crying out as it's hand came back. It would have been holding the wound if Adrian hadn't taken it's hand before. The Ogre had been spared by the fact that Adrian was badly injured and his big brother had stepped in before the swordsman could finish the fight.

"You and your kind find me weak. Do you know how strong a human must be to take you on?! Don't doubt my strength just because I'm smaller than you are! I have proven myself time and again, so don't you DARE think that I'm weak! My skills have already taken your hand! Do I have to take something else? Perhaps your eye!?" he demanded, moving toward the demon.

"You humans are weak! You live in comfort and your bodies grow soft!" the demon demanded as it backed away from the advancing swordsman.

"You call us weak. But you're the one backing away in fear. You're the one that refuses to press his advantage... Humans might not be as strong or tough, but your kind are supposed to be true warriors! Don't you even understand what that means? THE TRUE WARRIOR ENTERS THE ARENA WITH ALL HIS POWERS AT THE READY!" the swordsman shouted.

"You have no reason to fight! You have no reason to be here!" the demon said, glaring at Adrian.

"There is a reason for everyone that we do! Humanity is the deciding factor in this fight between Heaven and Hell! Our bodies might be broken more easily than a demon's but we have a lot more on our side! We're far more adaptable to the world around us! You warp the world to make it habitable for you! We use the environments to our advantage. You have no power here demon. You've lost this fight and now I'm claiming your eye as mine!" Adrian said.

Shooting forward the masked male's wooden sword struck the Ogre across the knee. Spinning around the leg, Adrian's wooden blade cracked across the demon's other leg, striking the achilies tendon. As the demon fell it screamed in pain. It pushed at the ground, trying to flee from the human.

"No! I wont give you my eye!" the demon said, grinning.

"Your brother can't save you today. I didn't take a beating like you gave me that day. I'm at full strength! and he has no chance!" Adrian said, his eyes shifting to the corner of his eyes.

He had heard more than one being but up until now nothing had happened. If the last fight was any indication then when the little one was defeated the big one would step in to stop the fight. His eyes narrowed as he sheathed his sword and slid the wooden weapon into the blood red sash around his waist. Turning he faced the big brother that stood there, gripping a tetsubo in each hand. One was it's brother's the other was it's own.

The two beings stared at one another, neither saying a word, each watching the other's eyes. If Adrian made any move to claim the little one's eye it would obviously take it. His eyes closed as he folded his arms over his chest. He stood there, making no movement as the bigger Ogre put it's Tetsubo away. Passing the swordsman it grabbed it's brother and dragged him away.

"NO! BROTHER LET ME CRUSH HIM! LET'S KILL HIM TOGETHER! HE CAN'T BEAT US!" the little one demanded as the large armored one dragged him away.

"No we cannot. He will kill us. He has the Sword of Light." the large demon said.

"He has never used it! He would have used it here!" the smaller one said

"He will only summon it to kill you if he gets serious. You will die, and then he will slay me. You should thank your stars he is holding back." the larger one said..

Adrian thanked his goddess, mentally, for the fact that they had seen him with the weapon before. It seemed news of his loss of the weapon hadn't reached them yet. He sighed, falling to his knees, clutching at his left arm.

Kneeling there Adrian didn't move until he couldn't hear them anymore. When they were gone he rose slowly to his feet. Breathing slowly he clutched at his left bicep. His arm hurt, but he couldn't find any reason to it. Nothing was broken, he hadn't been hurt nearly enough to be bruised. He couldn't figure out why his arm hurt, for the life of him. Yet there the pain was jolting through his spine with every motion it made. A curse? A spell? He would have to seek guidance for it. He breathed slowly as he made his way to the temple he had claimed as his own. He put his swords down beside the small library of scrolls. Opening them up his eyes narrowed scanning the first one.

He was searching through them for something. When he finished checking the first one he rolled it up again before he winced in pain. He put it aside and slid another open. Not finding it there he rolled it up again before opening another. His arm felt like it was going to explode as he opened yet another. This one was the one he was looking for. His eyes scanned the scroll quickly. There was a diagram of a human body on it, with different sections and so on marked out on it. His eyes scanned the words in front of him, trying to figure out what he'd done to his arm. Not finding anything he frowned before he willed the Devil's Teardrop to him.

Freeing his arm from the robe he wore he pressed the tip of his blade to his shoulder before cutting into it. He cried out, screaming as he withdrew the blade. He stared at the tip, a green liquid dripping from his shoulder. A parasite? Someone had done something, and now he had a parasite in his arm. Or rather had. He grabbed the wooden sword before sticking the blade between his teeth. He bit into it and cried out as his fingers dug into his shoulder wound feeling around for whatever the Devil's Teardrop had struck. He found it pretty quickly. Whatever it was he'd killed it, apparently. Prying it from his shoulder he threw it aside, before he spat the sword out of his mouth.

Taking up the Devil's Teardrop he heated the tip up before pressing it to his wound, crying out in pain as it seered shut. He pressed his arm against the ground as he continued to cautorize the wound. It would leave a pretty bad scar, but it wouldn't bother him as long as he let the muscle heal. But that would take time. He'd have to find a way to make sure he would avoid any combat until he was done.

He tore the sleeve of his robe free of it, before cutting it up. He tied the strips together as he slowly made a sling for his arm. Breathing slowly he set his arm into place before slipping the other end of the sling around his neck. His eyes closed as he relaxed, breathing slowly. He would have to let his arm heal. But once it did he would track down whoever had given him that thing and he would make them suffer.